TRACKER · SUPPLIED & FITTED
Tracker Stolen Vehicle Recovery
Tracker S5 Plus, Locate, Monitor and Vantage systems — the VHF police-supported network, fitted at your home or workplace across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London. TASSA approved (Member 0009) · family-run · 30+ years’ experience.
What Is Tracker?
Tracker is the original UK stolen vehicle recovery company, operating since 1993. Their numbers are the ones nobody else can match: over 30,700 vehicles recovered, more than £655 million of property returned, and over 3,200 arrests made off the back of their systems. Roughly a million pounds’ worth of stolen vehicles are recovered every month.
What makes them different isn’t the app. It’s the radio.
Why VHF Beats GPS When It Actually Matters
Nearly every tracker on the market works on GPS and the mobile network. GPS is a signal the unit receives from satellites; the mobile network is how it reports back. Both can be blocked, and organised thieves know it — a jammer costs about twenty quid and takes seconds to switch on. Once it’s running, a GPS tracker goes silent.
Tracker’s systems also carry a VHF radio beacon — a low-frequency transmitter the vehicle sends out, which police equipment homes in on. It isn’t stopped by a jammer. It doesn’t need a view of the sky. And critically, it still works when the vehicle is somewhere GPS simply cannot reach: inside a steel shipping container at a port, in a lock-up, in an underground car park. That’s precisely where stolen cars go while they wait to be exported.
Tracker is the only tracking company supported by every police force in the UK, under a formal agreement with the National Police Chiefs’ Council. VHF receiving equipment is fitted in over 1,700 police vehicles, throughout the National Police Air Service helicopter fleet, and at major UK sea ports. They also run a dedicated police liaison team and sponsor NaVCIS, the national vehicle crime intelligence unit.
The honest trade-off: VHF on its own is a homing beacon, not a live map. It’s how you get found, not how you watch your car on your phone. That’s why the Monitor unit has no live tracking, while Locate and S5 Plus add GPS and mobile on top so you get both.
The Tracker Range We Fit
Tracker S5 Plus — Thatcham S5
The top of the range and the only one that carries all four technologies — VHF, MESH, GPS and mobile. Supplied with driver ID tags, so if the vehicle moves without one aboard the monitoring centre knows immediately, even with your real key in the thief’s hand. Fully compatible with hybrids and electric vehicles. This is the one insurers specify on high-value cars, and the one we’d have on our own.
Tracker Locate — Thatcham S7
VHF, MESH, GPS and mobile without the driver ID tags. You still get live tracking on the Tracker Touch app plus the jam-proof VHF beacon underneath it. The sensible pick where your policy asks for insurance-approved tracking but doesn’t specify S5.
Tracker Monitor — Thatcham S7, VHF only
Pure recovery. No GPS, no mobile, no live map — just the VHF beacon police can find anywhere. Because there’s nothing for a jammer to block, it’s arguably the hardest unit on the market to defeat. Popular on classics, modified cars and anything kept in a garage where satellite signal is poor anyway.
Tracker Retrieve — Thatcham S7, battery powered
Self-contained with up to five years of standby battery life, so it goes into things with no permanent power — trailers, plant, machinery, stored vehicles.
Tracker Vantage — Thatcham S7, motorcycles
Built for motorcycles, scooters and quads. See our motorcycle tracker page for how we approach bike security.
Tracker Locate Manager and Plant — Thatcham S7
The business versions — Locate Manager for company vehicles and fleets, and an IP67-rated Plant unit for machinery and site equipment. See our fleet and HGV security page.
One thing to be straight about: Tracker don’t make immobilisers. Their systems find your vehicle after it’s taken — they don’t stop it being taken. That’s why we almost always recommend pairing a Tracker system with a PIN-code immobiliser. The tracker handles recovery, the immobiliser handles prevention. Ask us about our immobiliser and tracker packages.
Tracker FAQs
What is VHF and why does it matter?
VHF is a radio beacon the vehicle transmits, which police equipment homes in on. Unlike GPS and mobile signals it can’t be blocked by a jammer, doesn’t need a view of the sky, and still works inside shipping containers, lock-ups and underground car parks — which is exactly where stolen vehicles are hidden.
Is Tracker really supported by the police?
Yes — Tracker is the only tracking company supported by every UK police force, under a formal agreement with the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Receiving equipment is fitted in over 1,700 police vehicles, across the National Police Air Service helicopter fleet, and at major sea ports.
Does Tracker immobilise my vehicle?
No. Tracker is a stolen vehicle recovery system, not an immobiliser — it’s built to get your vehicle back, not to stop it moving. If you want prevention as well as recovery, we’d recommend pairing it with a PIN-code immobiliser, which is how most of our customers fit it.
Which Tracker system do I need?
If your insurer has asked for S5, it’s the S5 Plus. If they’ve asked for approved tracking without specifying, Locate covers it with live app tracking. If you only care about getting the vehicle back and don’t need a live map, Monitor is the hardest system to defeat. Call us and read us your policy wording — we’ll tell you which.
Do you come to me?
Yes — we’re a mobile service based in Cheshunt, fitting at your home or workplace across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London. Your vehicle stays with you throughout.
Book Your Tracker Fitting
Call 03330 129 028 or WhatsApp us for a quote across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London.